


Open Scars

by Esin_of_Sardis



Series: Glasgow Smile [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-11
Updated: 2014-01-11
Packaged: 2018-01-09 08:41:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1143898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esin_of_Sardis/pseuds/Esin_of_Sardis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone has the gall to make fun of Belle for her scars.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Open Scars

The scars itched. Traces of infection lingered around the threads that should have been removed long ago. It wasn’t like a normal sort of itch, that sort that Belle could scratch. Ragged flaps of inflamed skin would too easily shred beneath her fingertips. The scars were beyond repair now. Only magic could possibly help, but even then there will little chance she could be fully healed.

Rumpelstiltskin thought she was beautiful. He would whisper it to her in the night when she could see no more than he could. He would knock on the bathroom door to tell her so when she’d been in there too long in the mornings. He knew she was staring in the mirror. There was something about the scars—she couldn’t look away. They were gruesome, horrifying. The image of them was burned into her mind from years of mornings looking in the mirror, wishing they would simply have vanished overnight.

Things were better now. Much better. Belle wasn’t alone any more. Before Emma came, when it was just her and Mr. Gold, she hadn’t known anything but loneliness. No one wanted to befriend the scarred freak. Mr. Gold was the only one who didn’t mind her. He was the only one she spoke to. But he was jealous of his solitude and wished to be left alone. Not like her Rumpelstiltskin.

The loneliness was gone now. In public they pretended nothing had changed, but once the front door of the pink house shut, it was just the two of them.

Rumpel wanted to know everything about this new land. He couldn’t see, so she described it to him. Everything in the house. She would guide his hands to what he could touch and tell him about the wonders. After years of reading every book she could get her hands on, she was good enough with words to do this land justice.(Though she had elected not to tell Rumpel the color Regina had given his house. Some details weren’t necessary to describe.)

She was his eyes. At least she was good for something.

Not every moment was spent at his side. He could manage well enough in his shop without her. For a while at least. She had errands to run. He didn’t hire her only to make sure he didn’t trip. At least, that’s what Mr. Gold always said.

The whispers followed her all the way down the street. Children pointed at her, adults turned their faces so they wouldn’t have to see. Or they simply stared. There’s the girl who works for Gold, they said. I heard he did that when she displeased him.

Cruel words stung. Every time. It wasn’t that the whispers and gossip stopped bothering her, simply that over the years she got used to the pain. No one around her remembered who they were. They’d forgotten some of their kindness. She could be strong. She could be brave.

Rumpelstiltskin tried to object when she said she was going to run errands. It was understandable: after years separated both by prisons and curses he didn’t want to let her out of his sight. She didn’t want to leave him either, but she always went for groceries on Thursday. Unless they wanted to tip Regina off, habits couldn’t change.

Mr. Clark checked her out efficiently, looking only at his register and the items’ bar codes. He was kind to Belle. He didn’t mock or stare.

“Please forward the bill to Mr. Gold,” Belle said once he was finished ringing her up.

“Of course,” Mr. Clark said, looking at a spot about six inches to her left.

Belle tried to smile, but her lips barely twitched. She gathered her bags and left as quickly as she could. Out in the streets she felt exposed, so she walked quickly. Before her time in the Dark Castle, she had loved being outside. Now, she avoided it as much as possible. Outside were the whispers and stares. For a while she’d considered wearing a veil, but couldn’t bring herself to give Regina the satisfaction.

The two men stepped off the wall casually, as if they hadn’t a care in the world. They were dressed simply, cigarettes between their fingers. They were tall and rather menacing, blocking Belle’s way on the sidewalk.

“Look who we have here,” one of them said. He was smaller, with a thin face that reminded Belle of the rats in the Queen’s dungeons. “Gold’s circus freak.”

“Please let me pass,” Belle said, not meeting their eyes, her voice quiet. She wanted to melt into the wall of the building next to her.

“What was that?” the second man taunted, laughing. “I couldn’t hear you, freak.”

“I asked you to please let me pass.” Her voice was distorted by her slow lips, every flaw in the sound echoing in her mind.

“Say it properly and I might,” he said. His voice was high and he laughed to much. Not nice laughter—the sort that had little razors buried in it.

“I… I can’t,” Belle said. She hated that she was too small and her arms too full to force them out of her way. She hated that the scars wouldn’t let her say a few simple words. Hated it.

“That’s right freak, you can’t,” he said. Spittle flew from his mouth as he spoke, nearly landing on Belle.

“I heard Gold did this himself,” the first man said. He reached out to touch the scar, and Belle jerked her face back. He let his hand fall, his expression blackening. “Couldn’t stand the thought of another man having you, could he?”

“It’s not—” Belle started weakly. The thought of Rumpel doing something… something like that to her made her sick inside. He wouldn’t.

“Of course, he’s blind,” the man continued. “He doesn’t care. A whore don’t need her face.”

“And he can’t see it,” the second one said with another laugh.

“Please,” Belle said, trying to maintain her dignity. She couldn’t cry. She wouldn’t. The words hurt, but that was all they were. Words. Tears would hurt the wounds. Yes, she thought. She didn’t want to her herself. No crying. “Let me go.”

“Actually,” the first man said, not to her, but to the man beside him. “I’d take her myself… but we’d have to do something about that face first.”

The second grinned, letting loose another giggle.

“A bag? The rest of her ain’t that bad. Just cover her face—what?” He turned, cigarette falling to the ground as his friend fell with a thud. The next moment, he was shoved against the side of the building, the gold top of a cane pressing into his windpipe.

“What were you saying?” Rumpelstiltskin snarled. His eyes were covered with dark sunglasses, giving the impression that he was staring straight at the man. His lip curled into a cruel grin. “Care to repeat it?”

“Mr. Gold,” the man choked. “I—I wasn’t saying—”

“Oh is it?” Rumpel hissed. “I heard enough. That is a lie.” He pulled the cane away and the man began to breathe again, only fall back against the wall as the cane hit his side hard enough to leave black bruises. If not broken bones.

“Mr.—Mr. Gold,” Belle said. Her cheeks were crimson from the thought that he’d heard what the man said. But she’d seen the glass on the floor after she’d kissed Rumpel in the Dark Castle. His rage—Regina couldn’t know he was awake. “Please.”

“This bastard doesn’t deserve your sympathy.” His cane hit the man again, knocking him to the ground.

“He’s not worth it,” Belle said firmly. She was barely holding herself together, but that didn’t mean she shouldn’t stop him. “Leave him.”

The tip of his cane ground into the man’s collarbone. “You leave her alone,” Rumpel said. “You don’t talk to her, you don’t look at her. If you do, you won’t ever do anything else. Understand?”

The man’s face twisted in pain and he nodded furiously. “Yeah—yes,” he gasped, realizing Rumpel couldn’t see his assent.

“Good.” The cane was returned to the ground. Rumpel offered Belle his arm.

“I’ve got groceries in my arms,” Belle said. Rumpel nodded and his hand found the small of her back as he led her back to the safety of their home.

**Author's Note:**

> And I’m not going to write anything for this verse that I’m not prompted, so if you’d like more, prompt me on tumblr at: http://esinofsardis.tumblr.com/ask


End file.
